Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation

Toshikazu Oda

Hiroyuki Eguchi

Mitsuru Nagata

Ryuta Okamoto

Yuki Ozawa

Tomohiko Shibata

[Problem] An excessive amount of light received by an image sensor is detected with high accuracy without increasing the circuit scale. [Solution] An imaging apparatus includes a pixel, unit including a photoelectric conversion element and a first transistor that outputs a signal photoelectrically converted by the photoelectric conversion element to a signal line; and an excessive light amount detection circuit that detects that the photoelectric conversion element receives an excessive amount of light. The excessive light amount detection circuit includes a second transistor and a capacitor that are connected in series between the signal line and a reference potential node; and a dummy circuit that adjusts a gate voltage of the second transistor in consideration of at least one of fluctuations in a voltage level of a power supply voltage, a parasitic resistance of the signal line, and variations in a threshold voltage of the first transistor.

Imaging apparatus and electronic device

A reference voltage generation circuit generates a reference voltage and outputs it to an amplifier reference voltage line. A power-supply-noise adding circuit adds power supply noise superimposed on a power supply to the reference voltage generated by the reference voltage generation circuit. A differential amplifier amplifies a difference between a voltage of a vertical signal line and a voltage of an amplifier reference voltage line and outputs the amplified voltage.

Power-supply-noise cancelling circuit and solid-state imaging device

A variable resistance device is disclosed, which comprises a first variable resistance circuit and analog switches, a second variable resistance circuit including series-connected first and second resistors, one terminal of the first resistor connected to one terminal of the second resistor and the other terminal connected to one terminal of the first variable resistance circuit, a series-resistor circuit one terminal of which is connected to the other terminal of the second resistor, analog switches connected between the other terminal of the first resistor and nodes of respective resistors of the series-resistor circuit, an analog switch connected between the other terminal of the series-resistor circuit and a node of the first and second resistors, an analog switch connected between a node of the resistors of the series-resistor circuit and the node of the first and second resistors, and a short-circuiting analog switch connected between the first and second variable resistance circuits.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Toshikazu Oda